Day 6. Friday 1^st June, 2007.

Packing day.

The weather at the start of the day was rain and heavy cloud. Happily, by the time we made our customary 10 am departure it had stopped raining, and by mid afternoon there was scarcely a cloud in the sky.

Today we went to Odaiba, an island in Tokyo Bay formed from reclaimed land. We took a JR train one station south, to Ooimachi, then changed to the private Rinkai line, which, conveniently, accepts Suica cards. To reach the Rinkai line, which travels under the bay in a tunnel, we descended a very long escalator, then, to our surprise, had to go down another, though this one was not so long. Soon we reached Tokyo Teleport station. We studied the wall map in the station and planned out strategy. First to Palette city, then through the arcade and then we’ll see. As we entered Palette city, I noticed a driverless car on an enclosed circuit. Half and hour later Rosemary and I were in a similar car, taking the 7 minute tour. I was in the driver’s seat but, other than pressing the green button when it started to flash, it was strictly hands off – and feet off, for that matter. Rather odd, sitting there while the steering wheel turned itself!

A star attraction of Palette city is the giant Ferris wheel - now only the second biggest in the world (second to the London Eye). We did NOT take a ride. Toyota has a huge presence in Palette city. The driverless car, a mammoth car show room, and various design exhibitions and an auto museum. The rest of Palette city consisted of arcade games, eating places and shops. We looked at a few small restaurants before lunch time. By the time we were hungry there were no nearly restaurants to our taste so we ended up buying a couple of Yakitori sticks and other bits and pieces from an AM/PM (like a 7-11) and having a picnic. I should mention that the shopping areas, all under cover, were a simulation of walking through a European (Italian?) ‘old town’ to the extent that the ceilings were high and painted to resemble blue sky and clouds. Very impressive, if you like that sort of thing.

After lunch we caught a free shuttle bus and went to the other main section. Firstly to Aqua City – more shops and eating places, cinemas, more shops etc. Fortunately there was also an elevated board walk with striking views of the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Bay, Tokyo city, and the main Odaiba beaches. Not Manly, perhaps, but beats Brighton hands down.

I should have mentioned earlier that Odaiba has a number of very striking modern buildings. Maybe not quite as ‘out there’ as Shanghai, but great fun, nonetheless. The most striking of all was the Fuji TV building. There were very few people about, we assumed that Odaiba does the vast bulk of its business at the weekend, and during the school holidays. Made things very comfortable for us, though.

We caught a sort of hybrid train/bus that travelled over the Rainbow bridge and which terminated in Shimbashi, where, unsurprisingly enough, we got off. The views from the train were magnificent. I’m afraid that my twisting and turning in my seat to take photos woke up the passenger next to me…To the passenger the hybrid train/bus seemed to be a train, in particular a subway train, but it didn’t run on railway lines. However it may as well have done as that appeared to be the only difference between it and a train. It wasn’t sharing the road with other vehicles, it had its own dedicated trackway.

As we had to change from the private line to JR at Shimbashi, we decided to stroll around a bit. As far as we could tell, the area around this part of Shimabashi station consisted of Pachinko parlours and restaurants. I was amazed at the number of Pachinko parlours there.

Not long at Shimbashi, then back on the trusty Yamanote line to our old pal Shinagawa station. Second day in row with no mistakes or mishaps, and without seeking help even once! Wow!

Then, packing…